Bioinformatics of Molecular Timetrees

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Pennsylvania State University- University Park is given an award for research and development of a knowledgebase for biologists and other scientists (http://www.timetree.org). The database will allow users to gain access to times of divergence among species through a unique hierarchical search system. Previously, divergence times and timetrees, which are evolutionary trees scaled to time, have been scattered among thousands of publications and difficult to access and use. Research and enhancements underway include an expanded data set of all available species of organisms, development of software tools for more efficient data deposition and searching, and a graphical interface. This knowledgebase fulfills a fundamental need for biologists and other scientists to have ready access to information on the timescale of life. Knowing when species arose and when they diverged from other species is as important as knowing how species are related. It forms the basic, core information about life on our planet. Among the many uses of timetrees, they can assist molecular biologists in understanding rates of evolution of medically important genes, provide insights for ecologists in determining the cause of ecosystem change, and enable geologists and climatologists to better understand changes in Earth history and climate over time. The project is a collaborative effort with Arizona State University.